Editor's note: This is the sixth of a multipart series on Tina Kotek – her past and her future – as well as where her political ambitions might take her.

Education is at the forefront of this state. Unless we educate our students, freedom and liberties will always be at stake. Speaker Tina Kotek claims her 14 years in the House is her strength, what does that look like for education?

In 2013, Kotek sponsored HB 3077 that enacted the Interstate Compact for Agreement among the states to elect the president by National Popular Vote. Whether you trust big states to vote for you or not, it forfeits Oregonian’s right to vote to larger states. The right to vote is the core to the Republic that insures liberties. Kotek voted to add civics as a requirement to graduate, so does she support the individual right and duty to vote?

Oregon Constitution, Article I, Section 1, says “we declare that all men, when they form a social compact are equal in right...” Governor Brown changed “equal in right” to equity in outcome, which translates into redistribution. Even after two federal judges ruled equity in outcome is unconstitutional, Kotek still supports Governor Brown’s change in agenda. She was chief sponsor of HB 2001 during the 2021 session requiring school districts to retain teachers with less seniority if teacher has more merit and if retention of teacher is necessary to maintain school district's diversity ratio -- release of teacher would result in lesser proportion of teachers with cultural or linguistic expertise.

Kotek’s legislative biography also takes credit for championing the Student Success Act that is funded by the corporate activity tax, After two states abandoned the tax as taking too big of hit on their economy, she passed it on party lines. The tax increases funding for the state’s preK-12 public education system by $1 billion per year. Makes one question where it went if a 3.3 percent increase in the amount of $9.3 billion was need for schools for the next biennium. Will schools see that $1 billion when businesses can’t operate?

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It was Speaker Kotek that sponsored SB 552 in 2011, designating the Governor as Superintendent of Public Instruction. At the feet of the powerful teachers’ unions, she’s presided over what is arguably the largest decline in effectiveness in the Oregon education system since statehood. That has sparked parent’s ire with her caucus passing SB 744, which suspends graduation requirements showing proficiency in Essential Learning Skills.

As the gubernatorial election hastens, there is an important question on the table -- does Tina Kotek walk in Kate Brown’s footsteps?


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2021-09-16 20:11:04

Last Update: 2021-09-17 09:10:35

According to many experienced foresters, Oregon's forests need better management and they think that Oregon needs more forest thinning to reduce wildfire risks, but a new bill making its way through Congress will make this job more difficult.

S.192, introduced by Senators Wyden and Merkley, restricts thinning and other forest management activities on three million acres of Oregon's federally-owned lands. County commissioners throughout Oregon have expressed concerns about the bill and oppose it.

The bill will add nearly 4,700 miles of Oregon “rivers” to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. But most of the waterways in the bill are not even classified as rivers. Many are small creeks and tributaries that don't even carry water year-round, and are overgrown and ripe for wildfire. Yet the bill adds half-mile buffers where thinning and public access will be restricted.

Wildfires over the past two years have devastated Oregon's rivers, watersheds and nearby communities. We need to reduce wildfires risks and maintain safe public access, and follow the science.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-09-16 13:38:01

On September 9, the Oregon Transportation Commission released an announcement stating they were advancing the Hybrid 3 highway cover option for the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project. With conditions. The Rose Quarter Improvement Project is part of a larger $5.2 Billion transportation investment package -- Keep Oregon Moving passed as HB 2017. One of the most immediate conditions for the Hybrid 3 project is for the Oregon Department of Transportation to provide a Project Funding Plan on how the revised Project might be funded.

In the early 1960’s Interstate 5 was built through the Portland area which, due to the location of the new freeway, caused the removal of homes and businesses in the historic Albina district. The Albina community primarily was, and still is, a Black community. Due to the loss of homes, businesses and potential economic growth over the years from building I-5 through the Albina district, various stakeholders from the community, city of Portland, and state have been planning since 2010 on ways to rejuvenate the area, and the local economy.

The solution was to build a 4.1-acre cap over I-5 at the Rose Quarter that would serve to provide outdoor plaza space and reconnect streets that had been bisected by the construction of I-5. The (corrected) cost estimate of this solution was between $715 million to $795 million. However, the plazas did not address the loss of businesses and economic opportunity the construction of I-5 had displaced. As the proposed solution stood, the cap over I-5 was not sturdy enough to support buildings like businesses, apartments, etc. As a result, the Albina Vision Trust withdrew their support of the project and Portland City Commissioners requested the project to be “paused” because it was not “aligned with the city’s Racial Equity Plan or Climate Emergency Resolution”. This standoff lasted 15 months.

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Governor Brown comes to the rescue. After the Albina Vision Trust withdrew their support for the proposed I-5 Rose Quarter project and spent 15 months away from the table, Governor Brown brokered a compromise. That compromise forces the Oregon Department of Transportation to spend more time and money on the project as well as increasing the project scope. The revised project now will require a more robust cap over I-5 capable of supporting buildings 2-5 stories high.

There is, of course, much more to the story. There is the addition of lanes on each side of the freeway to be added, and the need for the Harriet Tubman School to be moved. There is the projected cost of up to $1.25 billion for the improvement and the need for ODOT to come up with a funding plan. Of course, there will be the multiyear construction zones on I-5 going through the Rose Quarter, but if all goes to plan the Albina district will have a 4.1-acre cap they can develop on.

The result: Precious transportation dollars not being used for transportation. One can almost see the sign now. “Keeping Oregon on the Move. Your Tax Dollars At Work. Completion 2027.”




--Steve Howard

Post Date: 2021-09-15 21:11:37

Last Update: 2021-09-15 21:30:24

Beaverton voters will need to drop off ballots for the September Special Election for City Council at an official ballot dropsites after today, September 15. They will not reach the elections department by the deadline if mailed at this time.

Many observers have recently questioned if Washington County on its way to becoming like Multnomah County, and may continue to see only Democrats elected, and a similar lack of accountability as it's neighbor county. Some observers of the situation are claiming that some Democrats may be better than others, in this case, Jerome Sibayan has been called the "less-radical" candidate.

A picture has now been circulating on Facebook showing Ky Delgado-Warren, a known Antifa member, thanking Beaverton Mayor Lacey Beaty “for hosting and inviting” The 649, the bar owned by Ky Delgado-Warren and her husband Karim Delgado, for an event to raise money for the her “friend” Beaverton City Council candidate Ashley Hartmeier-Prigg.

According to Ky Delgado-Warren’s Facebook page, she touts her activities with Antifa, and she calls her troops into action on a regular basis. Observers have already witnessed, and some have experienced, the destruction of what has occurred in downtown Portland where Mayor Ted Wheeler, an Antifa sympathizer, has done nothing to help his city escape the nightly Antifa riots that apparently Ky and others like her participated in for months last summer, and that still continue today.

Why is the Mayor Lacey Beaty inviting a known Antifa member and friend to sling alcohol at a fundraising event she is hosting?

Mayor Lacey Beatty needs to answer to why she is fraternizing with Antifa knowing they are an Alt-Left group who is known for destruction.

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Washington County elections officials are asking voters to use one of these official ballot dropsites as early as possible so all ballots can be processed in a timely manner. The deadline for voting in the September Special Election is 8 p.m. Tuesday, September 21. If you use a ballot dropsite early, and do not wait until Election Day, it is likely you will avoid encountering any traffic back-up that often develops at many of the dropsites on the day of the election. Ballots will be collected at all official dropsites until the 8 p.m. deadline Tuesday, September 21, 2021. Postmarked ballots will not be accepted for this election.

Beginning next year effective January 1,2022, Oregon will allow for ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received no later than seven days after an election to be accepted and counted.

Here is the list of official ballot drop sites with 24-hour access:

• Aloha Community Library (in Farmington Marketplace Shopping Center) 17455 SW Farmington Rd Ste. 26A, Aloha, 97078 24-hour-access outdoor box
• Beaverton City Library (Between 3rd and 5th St) Beaverton, OR 97005 24-hour-access box on Hall Blvd
• Beaverton Library-Murray Scholls 11200 SW Murray Scholls Place, Ste. 102 Beaverton, 97007 24-hour-access outdoor box
• Bethany Library 15325 NW Central Dr Ste J-8, Portland, 97229 24-hour-access outdoor box
• Cedar Mill Community Library 1080 NW Saltzman Rd, Portland, OR 97229 24-hour-access outdoor box
• Washington County’s “Service Center East” 3700 SW Murray Blvd., Beaverton, 97005 24-hour-access outdoor box
• West Slope Community Library 3678 SW 78th Ave., Portland, 97225 24-hour-access outdoor box
Washington County Elections Office 2925 NE Aloclek Dr., Hillsboro, 97124 24-hour-access directly outside entrance

Additional information on election matters may be found at the Washington County Elections Office website or by calling 503-846-5800.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2021-09-15 18:30:25

Last Update: 2021-09-15 19:53:11

Around 100 people died in this summer’s heat wave in the Portland area. Most or all did not have AC at all so sufficient power was probably not part of the cause this time, but humans are dependent on power for both heating and cooling and there are decisions being made which call into question whether we will have sufficient power at hand. We all know California has already had power blackouts due to decisions they have made about power generation. The entire west coast is controlled by people bent on elimination of fossil fuel power, and the blackouts are the result. It would be fine if they replaced fossil fuel generation with something that will produce cleaner power, but they aren’t. They are zealots and like Lord Farquaad in the movie Shrek, if some people have to die, well, that’s a sacrifice they are willing to make.

People died from the cold last winter in Texas partly because Texas had invested heavily in solar and wind over the last decade and during that cold snap in February the sun wasn’t shining and the wind wasn’t blowing. When utilities invest in renewables, they are supposed to build the equivalent generating capacity in something that can and will always produce power. It doesn’t always have to be running – if solar and wind are generating the needed power it can be on standby but it needs to be there for emergencies. It wasn’t there in Texas because even though they had it, it had not been properly protected from cold weather. Sensors failed when they froze and safety systems took the plants offline. I hope they learned a lesson. We are seeing more extremes in both hot and cold, and people need power in both cases to preserve life.

We have two power utilities here: Portland General Electric and Pacificorp. Both are investor owned and operate within the framework created by state and federal government regulations and subsidies. PGE’s largest power producing plant -- Boardman -- was decommissioned last October, 20 years before its time, because it was a coal plant. What have they replaced that generation with? Something that burns much cleaner like natural gas, the use of which has led the US to be one of a few countries to decrease CO2 output in the last 20 years even though population has grown? Nope. It will be replaced with: nothing. Their plan is to replace it with “market purchases,” -- in other words, from states smart enough to maintain generating capacity -- and “wind, solar and batteries.” How long do you think batteries will supply a large city with power when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing during a cold snap like Texas had? A couple hours, maybe? That is if they have winterized them which what will you bet, they won’t? So you are reliant on someone who had the foresight to maintain power generation, selling you some power. What if they have the cold snap as well, like most of the country did during Texas’ nightmare?

We have the same nightmare on the way here if we don’t exercise some oversight of our elected officials. Our form of government requires an informed citizenry to properly oversee them. Get involved or don’t complain.


--Henry Lee

Post Date: 2021-09-15 17:41:44

Last Update: 2021-09-15 18:10:25

In 2022, Oregon employers, on average, will pay less for workers’ compensation coverage according to the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. The decline in costs marks nine years of average decreases in the pure premium rate -- the base rate insurers use to determine how much employers must pay for medical costs and lost wages.

Underpinning the cost decreases is the success of Oregon’s workers’ compensation system, which includes programs to control costs, maintain good worker benefits, ensure employers carry insurance for their workers, and to improve workplace safety and health.

The numbers illustrate positive, long-term trends:

• Employers, on average, will pay 97 cents per $100 of payroll for workers’ compensation costs in 2022, down from $1.02 in 2021, under a proposal by DCBS. That figure covers workers’ compensation claims costs, assessments, and insurer profit and expenses.
• The pure premium rate will drop by an average 5.8 percent under the proposal. In fact, the pure premium – filed by a national rate-setting organization and reviewed by DCBS – will have declined by 51 percent during the 2013 to 2022 period.

The reduction in costs is due to a continued downward trend in Oregon’s lost-time claim frequency and downward trends in claim severity and medical costs, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance. NCCI is the U.S. rate-setting organization whose recommendation DCBS reviews as part of its annual public process to decide rates.

Employers’ total cost for workers’ compensation insurance includes the pure premium and insurer profit and expenses, plus the premium assessment. Employers also pay half of the Workers’ Benefit Fund assessment, which is a cents-per-hour-worked rate.

The decrease in the pure premium of 5.8 percent is an average, so an individual employer may see a larger or smaller decrease, no change, or even an increase, depending on the employer’s own industry, claims experience, and payroll. Also, pure premium does not take into account the varying expenses and profit of insurers.




--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-09-14 13:00:09

Last Update: 2021-09-14 09:04:34

In the face of mounting push-back against what many see as heavy-handed COVID-19 policies demanded by the Governor, The Oregon School Boards Association has distributed a letter to all school board members asking them to follow the law. The issues mentioned are COVID-19 mandates and free-speech restrictions -- presumably calling out the Newberg School District for their ban on Black Lives Matter and rainbow flags. The letter begins:

To Oregon School Board Members,

Before joining an Oregon school board, each and every appointed or elected individual is required to take an oath of office. The wording can vary by district, but generally follows this template:

“I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States, the constitution and laws of the state of Oregon, and the policies of (my district). During my term, I will faithfully and impartially discharge the responsibilities of the office to the best of my ability.”

Powerful words, but pretty simple ones, too: I will obey the law, and I will do my very best.

Yet at a time when Oregon’s school boards have never been more tested, we are also lamentably seeing a remarkable number of board members doing their very best to ignore the law or openly defy it. Such behavior is simply unacceptable.

In addition to battling COVID-19 restrictions, many school districts have also been battling Critical Race Theory, and to some, this also presents a legal challenge for school boards.

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Article 1, Section 20 of the Oregon Constitution would seem to rule out any action based on Critical Race Theory or reparations. It says: "No law shall be passed granting to any citizen or class of citizens privileges, or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens."

The letter from the OSBA continues:

We are duly elected leaders of our communities. We set examples for young people. We are sworn to follow the law – whether we like that law or not. Whether the issue involves court-sanctioned health safeguards during a deadly pandemic or constitutionally protected forms of speech, our oaths bind us. We must do better, even in the face of divided and sometimes hostile communities.

Our actions should be centered on positive outcomes for students. Creating even bigger divisions in our schools and communities does not serve that end. We call on Oregon’s more than 1,400 school board members to carefully weigh the consequences of your actions, to heed your oaths, and to lead by example.

Our children deserve nothing less

For many school board members -- and for many more taxpayers, voters and parents -- school boards who fight these restrictions have the children's best interest in mind.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-09-14 09:04:34

Last Update: 2021-09-14 09:27:58

Recently, Portland State University’s Peter Boghossian resigned from his position as assistant professor, marking the end of academic freedom and honesty in Oregon’s higher education system.

Citing Portland State’s unseriousness and lack of commitment to real education when confronted with facts that conflict with prevailing left-wing narratives of the day, Boghossian published his resignation letter online.

Senator Dennis Linthicum issued the following statement about his resignation:

The far-left are hell-bent on bullying and tormenting any individual with a different mindset. Prof. Boghossian was not promoting ideals that were destructive to the American ideal or higher education, but that's the point.

“During his time at PSU, Boghossian did incredible work to expose the corruption inside our system of higher education and attempted to hold it accountable. That work must continue until we restore higher education to what its primary purpose: learning, not indoctrination.

“Boghossian is a scholarly authority who could present students with difficult issues, historical context, and well-reasoned assessments of the circumstances. In other words, he taught students to think for themselves. His analysis was simply too honest for our modern social culture warriors. That was the sin he was punished for.

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"HECC, the PSU board, and PSU's faculty caved to the outrageous demands of the radical left by failing to support him. The mainstream and social media organs also played a part by largely ignoring the issue. They have abandoned truth and integrity and embraced the ideological tragedy that is failing our students.

"How many more rare, talented, and committed professors will Oregon sacrifice to destructionist ideologies that roam our university campuses?"


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-09-14 08:47:44

Last Update: 2021-09-14 08:54:32

Chehalem Parks and Recreation District currently has taxing authority over a little fewer than 40% of Yamhill County property owners. Most are in Newberg or Dundee. In 2020-21, $3,286,290 of local property taxes went to CPRD. Among their operations are parks, a pool, youth sports, playgrounds, golf, preschool, and adult sports. The legislature set aside $1.25 million last session to build their new Community Center. Debt service on a $19.9 million bond is an annual obligation.

Just how much of that bond was for acquisition and development of the 18 hole golf course isn’t identified on their website. The annual costs for maintenance, personnel and a share of administrative overhead for the golf course are just over $2 million a year. Golf revenue in 2019-20 was reported at $1.25 million. In 2020-21 revenue was listed at $1.5 million. The 32,500 citizens living in the CPRD taxing district are subsidizing golf to the tune of 25-30% for those that choose to play golf at CPRD. It’s a good deal for the small percentage of citizens that golf there.

Is it a good practice for government to provide non-essential services that compete with private enterprise? When property tax dollars are taken from consumers they consume less. Reduced spending diminishes the local economy lowering local GDP. Consumers have fewer choices and less economic freedom. Still, CPRD argues their golf course stimulates the local economy.

CPRD has allowed themselves to become part of a failed project of the County. They are studying the possibility of acquiring and operating the once hoped for bike path, Yamhelas Westsider Trail, between the communities of Carlton and Yamhill. Since each of five LUBA decisions decided to protect farmland over recreation on Yamhelas Westsider Trail you’d think the matter concluded. The last LUBA decision ordered the County to pay opponents legal fees. Legally, it’s game over for the County, but not necessarily for the taxpayers.

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A small private group, Friends of Yamhelas Westsider Trail, paid for a survey about the bike path but had CPRD sponsor the survey to give it some much needed legitimacy. The survey asked touchy feely questions of people who know little to nothing of land use law. Those respondents know nothing of the history of non-transparency leading up to the waste of time and money for this assault on farmland. Respondents may not properly understand that using tax dollars on a project to benefit a few, that would otherwise stimulate the economy if left with consumers is actually a financial drag on the local economy. Respondents might not understand that diminishing output of a primary industry -- farming -- has a negative multiplier further diminishing all local economic activity.

Of concern is that CPRD has plans for a third nine holes of subsidized golf and that they have grand designs on a system of bike paths through farms that would violate the very land use laws that scuttled the Yamhelas Westsider Trail debacle. Also concerning is the fact that the Yamhelas Westsider Trail debacle is outside the CPRD taxing district. Why is CPRD so intent on what some see as empire building in inefficient golf and illegal trail activities? Why are they and their Board of Directors meddling in matters outside of their taxing district?


--Tom Hammer

Post Date: 2021-09-13 13:06:36

Last Update: 2021-09-13 22:56:36

The Washington State Department of Agriculture, Oregon Department of Agriculture, and USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service found the first Asian giant hornet nest of 2021. The nest was in a rural area east of Blaine, Wash., about one-quarter mile from where a resident reported a sighting of a live Asian giant hornet on Aug. 11, the first of 2021.

WSDA narrowed the search area by Aug. 17 but was unable to access the location until today. A WSDA tracking team and a team of USDA APHIS and ODA staff searched the area beginning this morning at 7:30 a.m. with the USDA APHIS and ODA team spotting the nest about 9:15 a.m.

` “I was glad to be able to share what I learned last year with our ODA collaborators,” said Stacy Herron, a USDA APHIS plant health safeguarding specialist who assisted WSDA on the hornet project last year. “Finding the nest with ODA one day after simulating tagging and tracking in training was a very rewarding experience and demonstrates just how valuable the WSDA training was.”

“It’s an honor to be a part of this innovative pest prevention work in Washington,” said Jake Bodart, ODA Insect Pest Prevention Management program manager, said. “While Asian giant hornets have not yet been detected in Oregon, we are pleased to participate and learn first-hand from our partners on what it takes to respond to introductions of this emerging pest.”

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“Teamwork has been the key to success with this effort,” Sven Spichiger, WSDA managing entomologist said. “Whether it is the public reporting sightings and building traps or state and federal agencies working together, this is really a model for success in invasive species management.”

WSDA netted, tagged with a tracker and released three hornets between Aug. 11 – Aug. 17. One hornet slipped out of the tracking device, another hornet was never located, and one eventually led the team to the nest.

WSDA entomologists will now develop their plans to eradicate the nest, most likely next week.

Asian giant hornets are not native to the U.S. They are the world’s largest hornet and prey on honey bees and other insects. These hornets may attack honey bee hives in the late summer or early fall. A small group of Asian giant hornets can kill an entire honey bee hive in a matter of hours.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-09-13 09:59:12

Last Update: 2021-09-12 10:05:58

The Oregon Heritage of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is offering grants for the construction or restoration of veterans and war memorials.

Local governments and federally recognized Tribes are eligible to apply for work on monuments on public owned properties.

New monuments should acknowledge veterans and wars not already recognized in the community.

Grants for restoration may be used for broken monuments, missing elements of monuments, or the related design elements of monuments for veterans or wars. Grants may also fund the addition of elements to existing monuments.

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Projects must include the active participation of a veteran organization.

A free, online workshop about the grant applications will be September 29, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Registration is required. The grant application deadline is December 10, 2021.

Past funded projects include repair to the Doughboy monument in Astoria, a women veteran monument in Springfield, a new monument in Malin, and additions to the large memorial in Washington County.

For more information about the Veterans and War Memorials grant and other grant programs, visit the Oregon Heritage of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department website or contact Kuri Gill by email or by calling 503-986-0685.


--Bruce Armstrong

Post Date: 2021-09-12 17:17:48

Last Update: 2021-09-12 18:57:02

The Oregon Sunshine Committee is holding an electronic meeting on September 22, 2021 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM.

The public can attend by telephone or via Webex, although there is no further information provided by the Committee at this time. Meeting links and call-in numbers are available upon request sent to SunshineCommittee@doj.state.or.us.

The Oregon Sunshine Committee was created in 2017 with the passage of HB 2101 in the Oregon State Legislature.

Like the name suggests, it's job is to make sure that Oregon’s sunshine laws are working. A large part of that task involves reviewing the hundreds of exemptions that can keep government information out of public hands, with the goal of creating a more transparent government.

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The agenda of the meeting on September 22nd will be to recap where things stand with the Sunshine Committee’s work and discuss the path forward from, including possible changes in the leadership, and leadership structure, of the Committee. Discussion on these issues could lead to votes on leadership and structure questions and possibly also on how the Committee will prioritize its work going forward.

The meeting materials that have been provided to the members include the draft report the Committee worked on in early 2020, and the 2011 proposed re-organization of public records exemptions.

An archive of past committee meetings can be found here.

Written comments to the Oregon Sunshine Committee about its work and requests for accommodation can be sent to SunshineCommittee@doj.state.or.us.

Regular meetings of the Oregon Sunshine Committee are currently scheduled on the third Wednesday of every odd-numbered month (January, March, May, etc.). The Sunshine Committee generally meets in Hearing Room C of the Oregon State Capitol at 1:30 PM.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2021-09-12 09:44:24

Last Update: 2021-09-12 18:58:04